River govt flags off enumeration exercise

As part of its mandate to facilitate the planning and implementation of policies based on proper data collection and analysis, Rivers State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has commenced a pilot enumeration scheme.

The first batch of enumerators engaged for the programme at the auditorium of the Ministry of Justice last Wednesday, was addressed by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Awoye Bob-Manuel.

Speaking on behalf of the Commissioner, Mr. Levi Charles Gogo, Bob-Manuel charged the enumerators to take their jobs seriously, with the realisation that the data they had been trained to collect would be useful for both development planning and research purposes.

He enjoined them to show due diligence on the assignment, pointing out that those who performed to expectations on this pilot scheme would be part of the larger data collection efforts of the Ministry in the future.

â€œData gathering is essential to our development and planning requirements,â€ the Permanent Secretary stressed.

Speaking with reporters later, the project co-ordinator, Mr. Ogechukwu Nwanre, disclosed that the scheme would cover such areas as the hospitality industry, financial institutions, hospitals, schools and petrol stations in five council areas, namely, Bonny, Port-Harcourt, Obio/Akpor, Eleme and Oyigbo.

He also said he was confident of a favourable outcome due to the capacity of the enumerators who he described as â€œcapable statisticians and computer analystsâ€.

To further improve their capacity to deliver, Nwanre explained that the enumerators had undergone a two-month training about the specific data they would be required to gather and the need for such information.

According to the project co-ordinator, â€œthe planning and execution of sustainable projects can only succeed when the data available is reliable. Thus the need for this excise.â€